Tag: James Neesham

New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham said that the Kiwis bowlers bowled very well but India’s Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were batted outstanding, which was impossible to stop them for their bowlers.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni partnership added 151 runs for the third wicket and individually scored unbeaten 154 and 88 respectively helped India to won third ODI against New Zealand as they lead 2-1 in the five-match ODI Series on Sunday.

Neesham said batting from hosts was outstanding, “I think we fought pretty hard with the bat in the first innings to get..in the end what was a slightly below-par total. To be fair, I don’t think we bowled that badly in the second half of the game. The way Virat and MS batted was outstanding. When you are dealing with some of the best chasers in the history of the game, you got to have a bit to go your way. I think we just have to keep trying and putting the ball in the right areas and hopefully that in the next game it comes to fruition for us.”

Neesham and Matt Henry added 84 runs for the ninth wicket. Neesham revealed his initial plan for Indian but he does not succeed in his plan in the 4th ODI, he said,“It was obviously a reasonably iffy situation in the first innings. Henry came out and we basically thought of trying and batting the fifty overs, and try and scrap for as many runs as we can get. We obviously had a boost towards the end there with a few fours and sixes. I thought if we had eked out ten-fifteen runs in the end, that could have made a big difference.”

He added, “It dewed up a little bit. I think It was probably not as bad as the second game. These are the sort of conditions you have in the subcontinent and we sort of know how to deal with it. The lads had the towels and stuff out too. So it wasn’t a big issue.”

The all-rounder said his side next time will become with the full Planning for Indian skipper Dhoni. He said, “I think we know his modus operandi when he first comes in is often to chew up a few balls, get himself in and back himself to make it up in the end. Perhaps he saw the way it was more and more difficult for us to make runs and wanted to get on top of us early. It’s extremely challenging with only four fielders near the boundary and when a batsman comes out and plays shots like that. That’s something we need to talk about and try and combat in the rest of the series.”

He said about his middle order batsman, “I think we’ve seen, even for the Indian batsmen starting has been a challenge on the wickets in this series. You do a lot of work on the first ten balls in the nets, and sometimes it doesn’t come to fruition.”

Neesham added, “I think the conditions are quite challenging to us coming over. I think we have laid a couple of decent foundations but like in the Test series, it is the small periods of play that have cost us the game. I think the middle period today was again the same. The majority of our batting innings, we’ve been good, it’s just that last ten percent that has been an issue. Obviously, guys are not going to reinvent the wheel and change their game halfway through a one-day series. I suppose it is a case of getting off strike, try to keep your innings moving and then get on from there.”